The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The United Artist Bahamas Union plans to “push back by any means necessary under the law” against the approval of the Vybz Kartel concert set to happen at Fort Charlotte, citing the Jamaican Dancehall artist’s criminal background - despite his 2011 murder conviction having been overturned.

Claiming that policies dictate that the UABU should be consulted before any foreign artist can perform in The Bahamas, secretary general Link Scavella-Ferguson told Tribune Business that the union does not support the Vybz Kartel concert. He added there is a rise in foreign artists who “bypass” the UABU and other “relevant government authorities” and enter the country to perform.

He claimed the UABU is the “only legal union at this time” that may approve foreign artists to enter the country, however, to his understanding, its legacy union, the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union (BMEU) “are behind that”. Mr Scavella-Ferguson said the UABU earned its rights to approve or disapprove of foreign artists’ entry into the country because the BMEU lacks certification. He said during its quarterly meeting with Labour Minister Pia Glover-Rolle, about two weeks ago, she “advised” that the BMEU was not certified “which means that union should not be approving any foreign artists coming into the country”.

“In our last meeting with Minister Pia Glover, one of the things that we had confirmed was whether or not the other union, the BMEU, whether or not their elections were certified,” Mr Scavella-Ferguson said. “And the minister advised us, no, they were not certified because of issues that we raised regarding the elections where they have violated their own constitution and the law. And so we brought that to the attention of the minister. And as a result of that and some other things, they have not certified those elections. Which means that union should not be approving any foreign artists coming into the country.

“This was a quarterly meeting with the minister of labour. That’s when all of the unions would raise their issues. And so we raised our issue in reference to what was going on with the influx of the foreign artists coming in. And we asked who was approving all these artists. And so we made it known to them that the other union if their elections have not been certified, they should not be conducting business. So we have not been consulted with these artists that are coming in and we have not approved any.”

Mr Scavella Ferguson has spoken out before about the UABU’s “issue” with the “influx of the foreign artists coming in” and he told Tribune Business that they also disagree with promoters advertising acts and foreign artists before receiving approval.

“We have an issue, a serious issue with promoters advertising their acts or their foreign artists before they have received an approval,” Mr Scavella-Ferguson said. “If you have no approval, you should not be advertising.

“It has not been approved by immigration and has not been approved by us, which is the only legal union of musicians and entertainers at this time. And so they just put their ad out there and start advertising. And that has agitated us. And so we will not support them for that reason and the other reason with regards to the crime elements in our country.”

The UABU is prepared to protest and given that it is part of the Trade Union Congress umbrella, which has decided that if one union strikes, they all strike, it raises the question of what impacts a protest might bring about. Mr Scavella Ferguson told this newspaper that he has put the Minister of Immigration Alfred Sears “on notice of what we believe is going on”.

“We sent him a note to put him on notice that we will not support that act,” Mr Scavella-Ferguson said. “We send that to him and the Department of Labour. We will not be supporting those type of acts, including another act called Bounty Killer. We are not supporting any artist with the name Bounty Killer. Not in this country. The crime level of last year has been too high. And so we’re not supporting anything to do with Killer.”

He added: “We are so agitated that we intend to push back by any means necessary under the law, which means we will protest when and wherever. We will protest the Prime Minister’s office, the House of Assembly and all the Immigration department, the Department of Labour. If they approve this, they will be seeing us every day.”

He stressed the importance to “note that two major sponsors of the Vybz Kartel & Friends concert are ALIV and Bahamasair (our national flag carrier)”.

Mr Scavella Ferguson revealed that the UABU has formed its own “compliance intelligence unit” which consists of an entertainment compliance team which will “establish a structured framework that ensures the entertainment industry adheres to regulations, contractual agreements, and ethical standards while promoting fair opportunities and safeguarding stakeholders”.

“We launched it today,” Mr Scavella-Ferguson said. “We just finished working on it, and we will put it out on our Facebook page and our WhatsApp page, and then we’re going to publicise it. So that’s our own compliance intelligence unit. Whenever these foreign artists go to the concert to have the events, we’re going to be there to make sure that all of the things that we require, they have the insurance. Because if the stage break down with Bahamian or American artists or foreign artists, we want to make sure all those things are covered before we give an approval. And so when we go there, if they don’t have sufficient security, we’re going to come down on them and we’re encouraging the Department of Immigration to join us because they shouldn’t be allowing the people to come into the country to perform and then no immigration go to see how many people on the stage. You see, they apply for one artist to come in, Burna Boy, and then the immigration approved that, and then 30 people come in. And that’s not the only bad part about it, is we don’t know what they brought into their instrument cases.”

Mr Scavella-Ferguson, speaking on behalf of the UABU stated that they do not approve of the concert due to the artist’s criminal background, noting that there are “enough criminal activities going on in this country” and it can do without Vybz Kartel’s influence. He said the UABU has “always suspected” that some “Jamaican reggae artists coming in are bringing in stuff in these containers”.

“One of the things that we are now agitated by, in addition to the influx of foreign artists coming into the country, bypassing the legal organisations such as UABU and also bypassing the relevant government authorities in many cases,” Mr Scavella-Ferguson said. “The biggest issue we have right now is this Vybz Kartel artist that they plan to bring in, in March. And so we are launching, a pushback on that. We are not going to support that. We are going to demonstrate to the relevant government agencies, which is the Ministry of Labour and Immigration. We are not supporting any artists that has a criminal background.

“And I encourage you to go and do a background check on this Vybz Kartel, as we have done. And so after learning about his background and he has just been released from prison for murder. We have enough criminal activities going on in this country now. We do not need another performing artist coming here to influence our young people.

“Plus, we don’t know what they bringing in when they come into this country. We’ve always suspected that a number of these Jamaican reggae artists coming in are bringing in stuff in these containers and we always suspected that that is one of the ways that guns and things are coming into the country. We’ve always suspected that. And we put the government on notice on that. We believe that the relevant government authorities are slack in their duties.”

Besides the artist’s past, the UABU is also concerned about Bahamian artists not being provided the opportunity to be part of concert lineups.

“And for us in 2025, we are taking no mess,” Mr Scavella-Ferguson said. “We ain’t taking no mess because the policies that are set for as it relates to foreign artists coming in are set for us to be the watchdog to ensure that Bahamian musicians and entertainers benefit from any foreign artists that are coming in to engage in gainful employment. And so that is our job and we are doing our job. But we are agitated of the fact that the Ministry of Immigration and Labour, they are slack, and customs are stuck concerning their jobs. If they ask us to comply with the law, we expect that the government itself to comply with its own laws.

“We saw the poster and none have been promoted. They just said Vybz Kartel and Friends. So we do not know who those friends are. But he been in jail for the last 13 years, so he can’t have many Bahamian artist friends unless some of them were in there with him.”